compact heavy firepower for wilderness helicopter travel

How long is that Henry "Mare's Leg" barrel? 12 or 14"?

I ask, because Marlin offers a stainless .44 Mag in 16" now. It's a Model 1894 SBL (in addition to their Model 1895 SBL).



I've already posted this photo elsewhere on THR, so forgive me for the shameless plug, but here's a .44 Magnum 1894 SBL stoked with a 270 grain jacketed flat point @ 1500 fps from 16" (near-max, rifle-only load using AA#9).

Sidearm is a Ruger New Model flat top .44 Special stuffed with Skeeter's favorite 250 grain Keith LSWC @ +/- 950 fps. I would not feel undergunned in Alaska with this combo, but, they are considered at best minimum calibers and ballistics. Both firearms are light weight and made of stainless steel. The carbine weighs 6.5 lbs and the revolver perhaps 38 ozs if that.

I would not go with an automatic anything. Extreme cold raises hell with automatics. Large caliber revolver like you have.

My vote is a shotgun with slugs, that will stop anything. You can bring other shells along too to add some versatility to your tool.

I've got to say, this is the most reasonable and adult conversation we've had where bears are a potential threat in a long time. Typically they lead to fights and thread lock. But we've been good here.

My faith in humanity is restored for the day.

Kaybee said:

My vote is a shotgun with slugs, that will stop anything. You can bring other shells along too to add some versatility to your tool.

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Ordinarily, I would agree with you, at least in the versatility remark. However, the requirement to keep it compact, due to the helo ride, means you would need to go with the 18-1/2 barrel. That probably also means an open cylinder bore. Not much versatility there. You won't be doing much hunting with that. Even if you had a gunsmith thread the bore to take chokes, how many grouse or ducks are you going to get with an 18" full choke barrel? (Not many) Hunting big game with that rig would be akin to archery hunting.

In any case, I think your suggestion far outclasses any AR type option, and I stick to my original suggestion: big bore revolver in a chest holster. But that's just my opinion; it's worth exactly what you paid for it and comes with a money back guarantee.

I've read that the Browning BLR product works better in the "short action" (.308 Win etc) cartridges
than in the longer action cartridges (.30-06 etc). Just something to keep in mind when selecting cartridges.

I love my stainless takedown BLR w/synthetic stock in .308 Win, but have just shot on the range a lot.

D.B. Cooper said:

Not much versatility there. You won't be doing much hunting with that. Even if you had a gunsmith thread the bore to take chokes, how many grouse or ducks are you going to get with an 18" full choke barrel? (Not many)

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I don't know that I agree with this very little velocity (and there for range) is gained by going from a 18" to a 28" or 30".
I for many years used a 21" turkey gun for everything ducks, quail, pheasants and dove also served as home defense. I agree that I'd rather have a big bore AR just for ease of use a 18" shotgun with a folder, and ghost rings would work good too. Especially with new wad technology like flite control it's a game changer.

M1911 .45 ACP and a .22 conversion kit.

My primary concern would be protection and not hunting. For that role I would go with either a 12ga pump shotgun, or a big bore levergun. Depending on the type of work I was doing I might go with a revolver if I needed my hands free.

If I was getting dropped off I would carry a pack that had whatever survival equipment I needed, including plenty of high energy food to last for a good couple of days at least. My rationale is that if my ride can't return to pick me up it may likely be due to the weather, and if the weather's bad I won't be doing much hunting. I'd rather stay put and live off of what I brought.

They won’t let you carry bear spray in something attached to the exterior of the helo?

All the natives told my Dad to get a 12 gauge when my parents moved to Alaska. That's how I voted.

Sour Kraut said:

They won’t let you carry bear spray in something attached to the exterior of the helo?

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That's a gray area. By the letter of the FAA regs...no. However...I've heard of bush pilots taping a bear spray can to the wing support strut or landing gear arm (on a fixed gear plane). I've never witnessed this myself, and I used to work on bush planes. I do know of a former colleague who stashed bear spray cans inside the floats of a deHavilland Beaver floatplane when she flew up to Gates of the Arctic National Park for an archeological dig.

We have the same problem with fuel canisters, now, too. I use a SnowPeak backpacking stove that runs on cans of compressed IsoBsutane. Those are now completely banned on all passenger flights. Most guys have switched to the MSR Whisperlite multi-fuel (gasoline/alcohol/coleman fuel) stoves. Now what they do is pack them empty, and when the plane lands in the bush, the pilot lets them pull a couple quarts of fuel out of his wing tank to run their stove. (It's probably hard on the stove, as the fuel has lead in it, but it works.)

mokin said:

All the natives told my Dad to get a 12 gauge when my parents moved to Alaska. That's how I voted.

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Those guys also hunt 400lb caribou with 22LR.

You know...

all this talk about guns for survival...

You really should consider getting a PLB (personal locator beacon). Turns a 2 week fight for survival into a 4 hour wait for your ride home.

I never leave the truck without mine.

D.B. Cooper said:

Those guys also hunt 400lb caribou with 22LR.

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Yeah, I guess it is important to consider the source.

jmr40 said:

Shotgun slugs performed poorly as did 45-70 and 444.

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I find this a little hard to believe. I'm not a hunter, but I have talked to plenty of people who are and have used the 45-70 on large game. Mike Venturino is one such person. In his experience, a 500 gr bullet, driven by black powder, will put that bullet entirely through a 2000 lb Buffalo from any angle, if no large bones are hit. Clint smith will tell you the same thing. It would do the same thing with any bear. One of the people in my cigar club has hunted extensively in Africa. He has stopped a charging lion dead in its tracks with a single shot from a Pedersoli 45-70 double rifle. The load was a 400 gr softnose loaded to just under Marlin lever action pressures.

If the 45-70 did poorly on bears in Alaska I have to wonder if the shooters were placing the bullet where it needed to be.

tark said:

If the 45-70 did poorly on bears in Alaska I have to wonder if the shooters were placing the bullet where it needed to be.

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You also have to consider the way in which the study was done.

That said, the big problem with head-on bear encounters (i.e. charging bears) is that they are head-on encounters. The bear's skull is pretty thick and hard, and it takes a lot smash through it. It's nothing like taking a bear over a bait station where you can set everything up to give you that beautifully clean broadside or quartering away through the heart/lung vitals which has less protection than the skull. Additionally, a charging bear has his adrenaline up (as does the shooter), and that is going to affect efficacy of the projectile as well.

I have a nice, stainless Taurus Raging Bull 6 1/2" .454 Casull, which (I think)
hits the mark on compactness, accuracy and power. I would choose my
Bushmaster LR-308 16" for a rifle...

I would bring a very slow friend.

Posting here to edit and amend my preceding post in this thread:

...here's a .44 Magnum 1894 SBL stoked with a 270 grain jacketed flat point @ 1500 fps from 16" (near-max, rifle-only load using AA#9).

Sidearm is a Ruger New Model flat top .44 Special stuffed with Skeeter's favorite 250 grain Keith LSWC @ +/- 950 fps. I would not feel undergunned in Alaska the Lower 48 with this combo, but, they are considered at best minimum calibers and ballistics [for beasts with big teeth and claws]. Both firearms are light weight and made of stainless steel. The carbine weighs 6.5 lbs and the revolver perhaps 38 ozs if that.

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For *Alaska*, I would feel more at ease with .45-70 in a Marlin 1895, and perhaps a .480 Ruger Blackhawk in a chest rig.

bluejeans said:

holy cow.. somehow i stopped getting notifications from this thread... i had two pages to catch up on.
i'm in alaska now; still carrying the 629. View attachment 833993

i'm still searching for afolding or takedown carbine. also thinking that i will reduce some weight by upgrading my 629 to a 329pd.

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I know this is a gun forum, but look at those mountains! Friggin beautiful. Love to visit up there one day, or at least make it further west than Ohio LOL. I hope you enjoy the hell out of your job!

bluejeans said:

upgrading my 629 to a 329pd.

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Don't do it!!! lol

The 329 is easy to carry, but you'll only shoot it a couple times; they're very painful to shoot, even with light loads, because they're so light. They also tend to break easier. This of course, is just what I know from others-many others-who have owned them and sold them. But this is the advice give to me by many former 329 owners when I mentioned the same idea of dumping my heave Ruger for 329.

Bones741 said:

I know this is a gun forum, but look at those mountains! Friggin beautiful. Love to visit up there one day, or at least make it further west than Ohio LOL. I hope you enjoy the hell out of your job!

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All it takes is to get in the car and drive. Good luck.

bluejeans said:

holy cow.. somehow i stopped getting notifications from this thread... i had two pages to catch up on.
i'm in alaska now; still carrying the 629. View attachment 833993

i'm still searching for afolding or takedown carbine. also thinking that i will reduce some weight by upgrading my 629 to a 329pd.

Click to expand...

Actually.....that's a pretty good lookin rig!
Give me that and a packable fly rod, and you'll never see me again.